It was another extremely hot week here in Northeast Florida with heat indexes up to 114 “feels like” degrees. And of course the humidity makes it almost pointless to shower if you plan to spend any time outdoors, even early in the morning. You do get used to it, and to move more slowly as […]
About Lisa Begin-Kruysman
Navigating Cones of Uncertainty
It’s been a long week filled with many dedicated hours preparing the canal house for its new occupants. Hard to believe that I closed on this property two years ago this October. I couldn’t say it then, but that house needed extreme TLC. Basically, it was a hot mess, but I didn’t want to hurt […]
Navigating Unpaved Roads
The other day, an archived Facebook post, and accompanying photo, caught me by surprise. It was the first photo I’d taken of the log home I’ve since come to call home for the past three years. August 2nd, 2023. It was the day I’d actually toured the home in person after staring at it […]
“Small” Strong Steps Forward
Last Tuesday I attended a County Commissioner’s meeting here in Putnam County, Florida. I showed up to support the important issue of animal code enforcement which is truly needed here in this rural county. Recently, a young woman was rescued during a dog attack and there have been fatalities in this county as well as […]
The Tree of Life Grows On
At 5:30am Thursday, I received a text from my brother John (I was already up). He, his wife and son were in the Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta, GA, waiting to board a plane for California. They were travelling to attend the Services for Oliver Tree, who is the son or our cousin Christine and her […]
Moving Forward in the Garden of Chaos
I took a few days off this past week to spend some time with some very good friends in New England. I am posting from the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport on a cool overcast morning. While up here I’ve loved viewing the beautiful older homes surrounded by gardens filled with native flowers and hard wood forests, […]
Compassion Burnout and Enduring Hope
For the past 15 years I’ve blogged and authored books on the topic of the positive effects of the dog-human relationship. My dog Quint came into my life just seven weeks after my late husband’s passing and has been my quintessential companion since the earliest days of my loss. It’s hard to believe that Quint’s […]
Happy Re-New Year
Good morning. Here I am again writing on a Saturday that happens to be a major American holiday; this one celebrating the 250th anniversary of the USA. As many of us who are widowed know, weekends coinciding with holidays can often prove to be draining instead of festive; delivering a double emotional whammy. I still […]
Planting Hope With the Tree of Life
Tuesday, June 30th, would’ve been the 66th birthday of my late sister, Manette. Each year, I recount the story of how my horse-loving sister magically acquired a lovely, but feisty, Arabian Quarter Horse mix in 1973 when my family spent 9 months living in Boulder, Colorado. My essay, The Year of the Dream Horse, a […]
Welcome Summer and Happy Paw Dad Day
Tomorrow is the official first day of summer, the longest day of the year. Abundant sunlight often extends the hours of our days long after 6:00pm with those bright rays lingering even three hours later. This has always been my favorite time of the year. I think for some people that are grieving the […]
Creative Inspiration and The Path Forward
Typically, around mid-week, I start to focus on writing my post for Widow’s Voice. Most often, I have an idea of what I’ll write about, but sometimes, I really don’t know until I open the proverbial blank page and just write in the moment. I was actually going to write about my art and literary […]
Tree-silience
June has arrived, and most people up north are experiencing warmer and longer sunny days. Now, I can share without feeling badly that it has felt like summer here since early April. There were some days not too long ago, even in May, when it was near 90 degrees here, but only in the high […]